Fighting Denial
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: Postrescue, Kate has ended things with Jack incase she is arrested. Jack still loves her, and with the help of Charlie, Hurley, and strangely Sawyer, he goes about winning her heart over again. Lots of Jate! Please R
1. Sawyer's Plan

Two days ago, the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 were rescued after two years of being on that dreaded island which had become their home. At the moment though, they were all still in their celebration phase, and while mst of the girls were off window shopping, Charlie, Sawyer, Hurley and Jack were sitting in the bar in their hotel. Somehow, they had got onto the topic of past relationships that had gone sour, and were exchanging the stories while slightly drunk. It was no suprise that Sawyer had many more stories that the rest put together.

"I once dated a girl called Jessica-" He began, before Charlie cut him off.

"Hold up. Dated, as in relationship lasting longer than a week, or dated as in slept with and called once and only once?" Charlie asked.

"Six months." Sawyer said proudly.

"Long time for you." Charlie commented.

"Don't start." Sawyer warned, pointing a tipsy finger at him. "Anyway, I took her out for dinner, and was going to ask her to marry me."

Jack, who had been taking a drink from his pint at the time, gagged and choked. After a minute of coughing, he looked at Sawyer in disbelief. "Marry? You?"

Sawyer continued as if he wasn't affected by Jack's suprise. "I got myself so worked up about it that by the time it came around to asking her, and she realised what I was going to do, all I could say was 'can you pass the salt?' - Hey! It's not that funny!"

To Charlie, who had nearly fallen off his bar stool from laughing so hard, it was. He straighted up though, and feigned a serious face. "You're right, it's not that funny." For a moment, he kept his face straight, before it crumpled and he couldn't hold back his laughter. "It's hilarious!"

Sawyer shook his head. "You're drunk. Come on, your turn."

Charlie recovered from laughing. "You've barely made a dent in your list and I'm already running out."

"Stop stalling, Romeo."

"All right. When I was in college-" He began, but this time it was Sawyer who interrupted.

"You were in college?"

"As a matter of fact, I was an art-history major." Charlie said proudly.

"Art?" Hurley asked, clearly holding back a laugh. Sawyer was giggling childishly into his pint.

"I hated the subject but it was the only class they'd take me for. There was a girl that sat next to me called Leanne. She was the head cheerleader, most gorgeous girl in school, so all the big guys were after her. When I asked her for a date though, she accepted, so suddenly I was the college hot shot."

"Dude, how is this a disaster?" Hurley asked.

"The night before the date, I had a ton of homework to do, and I was up all night doing it. I drank so much coffee while I was doing it so I would be all right for the movie with her, but then a few hours before I was meant to meet her, it wore off, and I slept through the whole date."

Now it was Sawyer's turn to laugh hysterically - he had done some bad ones in his time, but he had never slept through a chance to get lucky. "Classic." Then his tone changed to serious, and he pointed an accusing finger at Jack, who before had been sitting quietly thinking to himself. "So what's the deal with you and Freckles, Doc?"

Again, Charlie had been drinking at the time, so he had nearly choked on his drink, and looked unfairly at Sawyer, mainly because he had wanted to ask them the same question. "Excuse me?" Jack spluttered. He realised now that Sawyer was taking advantage of his drunken state to get this out of him.

"Are you two...you know...together...jungle buddies?" Sawyer asked slyly.

"What sort of question is that?" Jack asked accusingly, with a brush-off laugh.

"So that's a yes then." Sawyer assumed.

"Look, we're not together, OK."

"But you want to be." Sawyer completed his sentence.

"Come off it, we've all seen you two sneaking between each others rooms." Hurley jumped in.

Jack knew that this wasn't for the reasons that Hurley suggested though. Kate was still terrified of being caught by the law, which is why he had been visiting her in the night. Not, as Sawyer had put it, to be "jungle buddies".

"Just say it." Charlie continued.

"No." Jack said determinedly.

"Because..." Sawyer was equally determined to get an answer out of him as Jack was to covering it up.

Jack sighed. "Because nothing can make us go back to where we were before we got rescued." He surrendered.

"Doc," Sawyer started. "Have you ever heard of something called tough love?"

Jack thought for a moment with a drunk expression on his face. "Does it involve dressing up?"

Sawyer resisted the urge to throw his head down on the bar. Trying to reason with Jack when he had been drinking was never a good idea, but usually the only way to get something out of him. "Let's try a different approach..."

Jack shook his head. "No. There's no approach, Sawyer, it's over, remember."

"You know, Jack, for something you've been holding on to for so long, you're pretty quick to let it go." Sawyer pointed out, actually forgetting to give Jack a stupid nickname.

Jack stopped midway between taking another drink. "I can't control her anymore than I can control the weather." He took another mouthful of drink as he had intended to.

Sawyer sighed again. "Jack, you've always seen everything from every angle. But now you can't see the simplest thing from any angle!"

"Are you saying that I'm stupid?"

"Either that or it's Chinese Year of the Dodo." Sawyer muttered under his breath. "Can't you tell that she wants you as much as you want her?"

"You can't just assume that." Jack pointed out. "Kate's a woman, and when a woman is ready to, well, when she's ready, she'll let me know."

That was one of Jack's good qualities. Even though he was hopeless with most relationships, he respected women, and there was no higher woman in his books than Kate. "How?"

"Well, she'll give me a sign or something." Jack said.

"Like what?"

Jack thought for a moment. "I dunno."

"Maybe she'll put an announcement in the Sunday Sport." Charlie said, picking up an abandoned newspaper from the bar beside him, and opening it up.

"Oh yeah," Sawyer said pointing into it. "Here it is. Doc loves Freckles, Freckles loves Doc, DEAL WITH IT."

"I don't lo-" Charlie cut Jack off before he could finish that sentance, because he knew that he would regret it if it said it.

"You're just in denial." He countered.

Jack shook his head. "I'm not in denial, Charlie."

"Yes you are. You're just denying that you're in denial." Even though he had a point, Charlie was making this conversation very complicated.

"I'm not denying that I'm in denial." Jack said.

"If you're not denying that you're in denial, then you're admitting that you're in denial."

Jack stared at Charlie for a moment, trying to find sense in what he had just heard. "Look, why should I deny being in denial? I never said I was in denial. YOU said I was in denial and don't you deny it."

"Why can't you just admit it to yourself?" Charlie asked.

"Admit what?" Jack said, even though he knew what they all meant.

"That you love her!" He said rather loudly to get through to him, only it got through to the people around them more than it did to Jack at first.

"I don't..." He stopped mid sentance and started infront of him, not really seeing the racks of alcohol before him. He couldn't say it. He had said it in his head, trying to convince himself, but to say it out loud, was just simply impossible.

"See," Sawyer said slyly. "You can't even say that you don't. That's got to mean something."

"I just.." Again, he stopped.

"Just what, Jackass?"

Jack spoke quietly, not liking having to talk about his feelings, but secretly glad that he had a chance to. "I want to throw myself in front of every car I see, because then I might stop thinking about her."

"Ah." Sawyer said, his plan had worked, and he downed the rest of his drink.

"I know that I care about her, and I like her a lot, but we had something special together before we were rescued." He continued, not caring whether they were listening or not. "Now, we haven't got anything." Kate was so worried that she would be caught, that she had ended it with Jack on friendly terms so that he wouldn't be weighed down with her when she was caught.

"Sounds like she needs reminded of the good times." Sawyer said.

"How do I do that?" Jack asked.

Sawyer smirked and thought for a moment. "I've got a plan."


	2. Realisations

Chapter 2

Kate had been swimming down in the pool, finally having a chance to relax by herself, and was heading back up to her hotel room. She was starving, having burnt so much energy off in the pool, but doubted that she could actually be bothered to go and find some dinner. She loved swimming, it reminded her of the peaceful times on the island, particularly as she was in the pool alone. She was just about to close her room door when she heard a voice calling her.

"Freckles!"

She turned to see Sawyer jogging down the corridor towards her. "Hey, Sawyer." She said with a smile. Since Sawyer had started to get together with another girl from the island, things between them were not as heated or flirtatious as they used to be, to Kate's liking.

"I need to talk to you about something." He said seriously.

She frowned a little at his tone, but stepped back so that he could follow her into the room. "Sure, come in."

They went straight through onto the patio, which overlooked the greater part of Sydney. Out of the rooms she had been into, she had the best view by far.  
"What's so important then?" She asked, leaning with her back to the wall of the balcony while Sawyer sat down in one of the deck chairs.

"Jack." He said simply.

"What about him?" She asked, hoping that he wasn't going to ask what she thought he was.

"Do you love him?"

"What?"

Once again, Sawyer felt like ramming his head against the wall. Obviously thing was going to go exactly the way it had done with Jack. He had even given the same reaction as Kate had done. "I figured it would be worth getting straight to the point considering the afternoon I've had with Jackass."

"What do you mean?" She asked, pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

"That's the problem with you two. You're so incredibly stubborn." Sawyer pointed out.

"I'm not stubborn." She protested unfairly.

"That's the most stubborn thing you can say." Sawyer informed her.

"Whatever." She said with a wave of her hand. "Now, what are you talking about."

"Do you love Jack?" He repeated. The question was simple, as was the answer, but she had to be awkward.

"Have you been drinking?" She asked him, avoiding the question.

"Ok, let's try this another way." He said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Do you think that there's one person for everyone?" She looked at him strangely, so he explained further. "You know like 'Sleepless In Seattle' and all those other films that you probably like. That somewhere in this world there's one perfect person for everyone."

She shook her head with a tiny laugh, like the idea was absurd. "I've had too many crappy relationships to believe in that, why?"

"Because, for the Doc, it's you."

She was silent for what seemed like an hour. She stared at him, and then turned her back on him, looking out on the view. Sawyer fought back a groan; even though she was sober, she was just as difficult to deal with.

"How do you know that?" She asked quietly.

"Because he told me." Sawyer said, standing up and coming to stand up beside her. "Come on, Freckles, you can't go through life thinking everyone's going to let you down."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'll only let him down." She reminded him quietly - too quietly for Sawyer to believe her.

"Why? Because he couldn't stop you from getting onto that boat? You really think that Jack of all people was going to let you stay on that island on your own?"

"I'm over that, Sawyer." She assured him. She continued to look at the view, but turned her face around so he couldn't see her.

"Then why don't you love him?" Sawyer asked exasperated.

"Because I can't!" She snapped back loudly. "He's probably going to get back onto a plane, fly back to L.A, back to his perfect family, his perfect job, his perfect house. Everything about him is perfect, and look at me! I'm a criminal, Sawyer. I'm not good enough for him. He doesn't know what he's talking about when he says he loves me, he's probably been stuck on that island for too long" She marched away from him, almost back in her apartment when Sawyer caught her arm and turned her towards him.

"So have you, Freckles." She was silent and looked away from him. Sawyer could see her thinking, realising, exactly what he had planned. "Look, I'm having a romantic crisis myself at the moment." He told her. "We're all having a drink downstairs tonight, we all want you to come as well, you're not hiding up here forever. I could do with some female help." With that, Sawyer let himself out, and went downstairs, feeling accomplished, while Kate sat down in the nearest chair and thought deeply about what he had just said to her.


	3. Revelations

Chapter 3:

Kate had at first decided against going down to the bar, especially since she knew that Jack cared about her for sure. But after knowing that it would only make Sawyer come back upstairs and drag her kicking and screaming into the bar, she decided to go willingly, especially knowing that Sawyer would love nothing more than to do that to her. They sat in the cosy little armchairs around a low table, and she found most of them already waiting ready for her when she got down there.

Jack said hi, but was avoiding her gaze, which she wasn't suprised about - it had happened a lot since yesterday. She was sat next to him, with her feet drawn up beside her on the chair, balancing a glass of wine on the arm of the chair while she listened to the advice the others were giving Sawyer about a girl he liked. She didn't contribute, neither did Jack. They didn't feel right talking about romance when a secret flame was still burning for them.

"Seriously," Sawyer said, fed up with Charlie and Hurley's jokes about the matter. "I don't want to mess it up this time. I like Kelly." Kelly was the name of the survivor that Sawyer had fallen for - and he had fallen hard.

"So this is it, Sawyer - domesticated." Charlie said, as if presenting him on stage.  
"I'm not domesticated." Sawyer snapped back.

"Beg to differ." Hurley teased.

"Kate, you're a woman!" Sawyer said, coming to her for advice, hoping that she wouldn't agree with the others.

She looked at herself sarcastically, spending a long few seconds looking up and down her body. "Congratulations on that stunning observation." She said, and they all laughed. So far, since she had arrived, Jack hadn't said a word other than greeting her. Still, she was glad that she wasn't the only one he didn't seem to be talking to. He seemed entertained enough just watching the bickering between his friends and wasn't really speaking to anyone.

"Say you were about to go at it with a guy," Sawyer continued, "What would you want him to say, like, right before?" He asked.

She thought for a moment, and then decided that she wanted to have some fun as well. After all, Sawyer had never given her any real relationship advice other than that he liked looking at her ass. "'This won't take long'" She said, with a small nod, as if she had decided that this was a good decision.

"No seriously."

Still, she couldn't think of a serious answer. "Do I know you?"

"No, like, for real. Like...romantic." Hearing the word romantic come from Sawyer's mouth and not being used for sarcasm was like a stun gun to the brain for Jack, who was watching silently. He kept glancing at Kate out of the corner of her eye when she wasn't looking though. Her answer to 'romantic' interested him a lot though, especially after his conversation with Sawyer in the bar.

Ok, she thought, romantic. She thought long and hard. What would she want someone to say to her? She thought of her ideal man, her ideal evening, all the time coming back to a tall handsome man called Jack. "You are so beautiful it hurts to look at you." She said, not looking at anyone in particular when she said it, choosing to take a longer drink from her glass instead, before returning it to balancing on her knee. It was silent, making her feel really uncomfortable about what she had said, but when she looked up, every male was looking at her in awe...all except Jack, who was looking into his drink.

" "It hurts to look at you?" " Hurley repeated as if she were some kind of God.

"How did you think of that? Does it work?" Sawyer asked, amazed that such a saying existed.

"Where would it hurt?" Hurley asked.

Jack watched Kate, and she could feel his eyes on him. A slightly flush creeped up her neck and settled on her cheeks, which made her all the more radiant and compelling to look at for Jack. "I dunno," She shrugged. "Your heart, I guess."

"It sounds cheesy." Sawyer said.

She held up her hand in surrender. "You asked for romantic, I gave you romantic."

"But what if it doesn't work?" Charlie said. "What if she doesn't like romatic? No girl who's ever been with Sawyer has had time to worry about romantic." He teased.

Kate shook her head. "Every woman likes romantic, and if she says she doesn't then she likes it even more. All of those girls you've slept with would probably appreciate it if you turned up a day or two later with a bunch of roses, or sent her some." She told them. God, it's amazing what little men know about women. She could tell by the look on every other woman's face that they were thinking the same thing, and they all nodded in agreement, with dreamy expressions about being sent roses by a mysterious gorgeous man.

"Any particular type of roses?" Sawyer asked, desperate to make a good impression.

"I don't believe this." Hurley said with a spluttered laugh.

"Shut up, we're learning!" Charlie told him, earning a look of excitement from Claire. He was now listening to Kate as much as Sawyer was. If they had been any more eager they would be taking notes, which Kate suspected some where sneakily doing on the beer mats that dotted the table.

"Red roses. Twelve of them." She told them, while her 'students' nodded in understanding.

"Message?" Charlie asked.

"Not signed, but written so that she'll know it was you who sent them."

"Any thing else?" Sawyer asked.

Kate thought for a moment. "Rose petals, on the bed." She said.

"On the bed?" Sawyer questioned. He really doesn't have a clue. I've only ever had romantic in the middle of an island, and I still know more than him.

"Dude, how much money do you expect us to send on roses?" Hurley asked.

"Or leading to the bed, your choice. Both works quite well." Kate said, ignoring Hurley's comment.

"And candles." They all stared at Jack, who had finally spoken. Especially Kate, who was eyeing him curiously. "What?" He asked, wondering why they all looked so surprised.

"What do you know about romance?" Hurley asked.

Jack took a deep breath as he raised an eyebrow at the ceiling. "A little."

"Enlighten us, Doctor Love." Sawyer ordered.

"No," He said, motioning to Kate. "Best hear it from the master."

She laughed a little. "Flattery will get you no where. Go on." She encouraged.

"It's not as good as Kate's stuff." He said, leaning back in his seat. "But it's worth a shot."

"Come on then."

"Just...little things...like walks on the beach at night...putting a rose on the seat of her car before she goes shopping..." This struck something in Kate's memory, from the first day they were rescued, and she turned in her seat to look at him fully. Sawyer watched this reaction and nodded proudly at Charlie and Hurley, his island mischief monkeys. "...Looking at her eyes when she's talking and not at her breasts or her lips so she knows that you're thinking about what she's saying and not about getting her into bed."

Kate was now thinking even more about what Sawyer had said to her. Not only did Jack apparently still hold a candle for her, but he was also making her relive all the things they had done in her memory. Their eyes connected for the first time that evening, chocolate brown to ocean grey, and Kate knew that everything he was advising to Sawyer was things he had done when they were together before she had ended things yesterday. She smiled softly and caught on to what he was motioning.

"...Giving them flowers for no apparent reason..." She said quietly, adding to his list, but speaking more to Jack than to Sawyer. In fact, she wasn't even looking at the Southerner that was asking for help in the first place.

"...Pillow fights..." Jack said with his cheeky grin. Oh yes, she remembered them - especially seeing as they were using the cushions from the airline seats as weapons, even if they were harder than they liked to admit, making the game all the more fun when they thought they had hurt the other, only to be ambushed once again.

"...Secret campfires in the jungle..." She said, as the memories came flooding to her easily of the pair of them curled up together to stop the November chill while they were camping on evening. Surprising how cold an island could get when you didn't know where you were.

"...Running wild in the trees..." Trust Jack to bring that one up. Although he failed to mention the fact that Kate had easily out-climbed him, and that he had fallen from several trees.

"...Sharing your shirt during that freak storm..." Kate said, remembering how the storm in what they realised must have been monsoon season, had resulted in her wearing Jack's shirt over her thin top, and Jack running back to the hatch shirtless. It had resulted in Kate taking over from Jack as island doctor while Jack got rid of his cold, cough, sorry, man flu.

"...Breakfast in bed..." Or as close to as they could get it in a tent or a cave. Although in the hatch it had worked rather well, especially when they had actually been able to make things like bacon and toast. Kate hadn't eaten the bacon, but she had sure eaten a lot of toast in the mornings.

"...Slow dancing for hours..." In the rain. In the cold. In the wind. Wearing few clothes. And it was one of the best times of her life.

"...Making them wear a blindfold while you take them somewhere special..." It had been to watch a sunrise on the beach, and she had to walk, half asleep and blindfolded, for two hours without knowing where Jack was taking her. It had been worth it though. There was no one else on the beach and it was the most spectacular sunrise she had ever seen.

She didn't add anymore. She didn't need to. She realised now what Sawyer had done, and that Jack had been in on it, all of them had. By asking for advice, Jack had responded by reminding Kate of all the good times they had had together. She knew now how much she missed him, even though it had been less than a day: his kisses, his embraces, even that cheeky grin. They were both oblivious to the others in the room, who were staring from one to the other, wondering which was going to move first. Neither of them did.

"Jack? Kate?" Charlie got no answer to his question, not even in movement.  
"Dudes? Anyone home?" Hurley asked.

Kate spoke in a small whisper, which only Jack heard. "We had some good times, didn't we?" She said.

"Yeah, we did." Jack replied softly. "Kate, I-"

"Guys, I hate to break this up, but I'm going to see Kelly." Sawyer said, standing from his chair.

"Bye, Sawyer." Jack muttered, without looking up.

"Good luck." Kate added quietly, still not breaking her gaze from his.

"Wanna try that once more with feeling?" Sawyer teased.

"Bye, Sawyer." Jack muttered, just as before.

"Good luck." Kate continued, in the same tone as she had last said. A few chuckles came from the other survivors, and they all watched Sawyer shake his head, and start to walk out of the bar, stop half way, come back and down the rest of his drink for luck, and then finally make it the full length of the bar.

"At least one of us is getting lucky tonight." Hurley mumbled as Sawyer left.

Charlie shook his head. "I think it might be three." He said, pointing at Jack and Kate, who were still staring at each other.

"Sawyer told me." She admitted to Jack.

Jack finally looked away, grinning, but looking slightly embarrased. God, she loved that smile. "I thought he might." He looked at the stairs over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go." He said, and they both stood up.

"Wait a sec, are you guys leaving too?" Hurley asked.

"Yeah..." Kate said distractedly.

"We're gonna go upstairs." Jack told him, stupidly notioning in the direction of the stairs.

"Do you guys love each other?" Charlie called out as they got to the other side of the bar. Neither of them answered, but they both grinned, now everyone in the bar was watching. "Oh, I get it, you two do love each other!" He said just as loudly.

Jack didn't even turn around as he shouted back. "Goodbye Charlie."


	4. Happy Endings

Chapter 4 (Final Chapter)

The walk up to Kate's hotel room was silent, but as soon as the door was closed and they were stood out on the terrace, looking at the bustling nightlife, the conversations began. This was no time for the when-you-say-nothing-at-all moments. Things needed to be out in the open.

"Is it true?" Kate asked, turning to face him. "What Sawyer said?"

Jack continued leaning against the wall, with his back towards it. "I never loved anyone like I love you, Jack. Even when you hated me, I still loved you."

"So, even yesterday..." She said, thinking back when he had been as withdrawn as she was when she ended things. "...and you didn't say a word?"

Jack shook his head, ashamed. "I wouldn't let myself, not until I was absolutely, dead sure."

"Sure of what?"

"You remember that night on the beach when we first crashed, when you said that you could never love someone who didn't understand you?" He asked her, and she nodded. "I had to be sure that I could give it all up before coming to you. I knew that I could try, but trying wasn't good enough. Sawyer let you down with that, and I didn't want to know that I was going to do exactly the same thing. But now, knowing that" He took one of her hands between both of his. "...that I love you, I could do anything."

"I just..." She began, but then changed her wording. "I feel like I've been thrown in the deep end, and I don't know how to swim." She said, sounding a little lost.

Jack brought up her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Don't worry, there's a lifeguard on duty." He assured her, and she smiled. "I know it's not going to be easy, and we're probably going to really have to work at this, every second of every day, to get back to where we were before, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day."

Kate sighed with a small smile. "Jack..." She began, but he cut her off.

"Will you do something for me, please?" He asked her.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"I want you to picture your life for me." He told her. "30, 40 years from now. What does it look like? If it isn't with me, then I'll go, right now if you want me to. I lost you once, Kate. I'm not sure if I can do it again, but I don't think I can bear to only have half your heart either." He explained.

Kate didn't answer him with words. Instead, she put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. Their lips met, and for a moment, Jack froze because he realised that this was what he had missed all day. It didn't take long for him to unfreeze and draw her in close to him. He put his hands on her waist, dragging her closer and deepening the kiss as he did so. They kissed for as long as they could before parting for breath, and when they did, Kate's head rolled back onto his shoulder to look up at him, panting gently for air. Her legs felt so weak that if it wasn't for his arms, she probably would have dropped to the ground. He didn't let go of her, not even loosening his hold on her. No, he had let her go once before, he was going to hold onto her forever now.

"Jack," She told him gently. "You have my whole heart. You always will."

He grinned at her, even though their lips werent together, their faces were only about an inch apart. When she spoke, he could feel her breath on his face. "You have no idea how much Sawyer has been using this against me." He told her.

Funnily enough she laughed. "You'd be surprised..." She told him. After all, Sawyer had talked to her as well.

"God, I love you so much." He said breathily.

"I love you too." She replied, the first time she had specifically said that phrase to him that day. They kissed again, and when they parted, Kate turned serious. "What you were sayin downstairs...it made me realise how much we did together..."She told him. "How much you did for me."

"It made me realise how much I loved doing it for you." He smiled.

"I guess we'll have to thank Sawyer for this." Kate remembered, seeing as he was responsible the reason that her legs refused to support her at the moment.

"He can wait." Jack said, not wanting to move.

"Good," She grinned. "Because you're not going anywhere." She said stubbornly.

"Oh really?" He challenged.

"No, you're staying right here with me." She ordered gently.

"I have something to show you first. Close your eyes." He said to her when she leaned to kiss him again. Pouting, she looked up at him unfairly. "Don't make me blindfold you!" He warned, and she laughed out loud.

She agreed, and he led her by the hand into her bedroom with her eyes closed. She wondered what it was, but was glad she didn't have to wait two hours for it this time.

"Ready?" She heard Jack ask as he released her hand, leaving her standing alone.

"I'm ready." She said with a laugh.

"Ok, then, open your eyes."

She opened them, and found herself looking at her bed. The white blanket was completely covered in roses, and a quick count she found that there was twelve of them; eleven red, and right in the centre, one white one. She gasped and looked up at Jack, who smiled innocently and motioned towards a card. She walked over to the bed, the smell of the fresh roses overcoming her and picked up the card, reading it aloud.

""To the one who always stands out in the crowd, and in my heart." Jack, this is amazing!"

Looking around, she found herself looking at everything she had advised to Sawyer. The roses, with the card that wasn't signed, but she knew that it was from Jack. The whole time they had been talking outside, he had been looking at her eyes, not her lips. On the floor around her feet were rose petals. She wondered when he had been up here to do all of this. But before she got a chance to ask, she turned around and flung her arms around him.

"Kate?" He asked, playing with a brown curl of her hair over her shoulder

"Yes, Jack?" She answered.

"There's something I've got to say to you."

"Anything." He pulled back and looked her in the eyes.

"Kate. You are so beautiful, it hurts to look at you."

She smiled, and she realised how he knew to do all of those things. First of all, he was a hopeless romantic. But secondly, these things were the things she had missed on the island, and while being on the run, and she had never really experienced them before for herself, she had only read about them, or seen them on movies, and Jack knew this.

Because with her, he always knew.

FIN


End file.
